Ford To Outsource EV Production To Renault In Europe

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Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, used to be one of our favorite people here at CleanTechnica. Among the leaders of US automakers, he seemed to be banging the drum the loudest for the EV revolution. Ford was fast out of the gate with the Mustang Mach-E, followed quickly by the F-150 Lightning, which made people sit up and take notice when a video appeared showing a prototype pulling a line of freight cars. Ford also got busy converting its Transit commercial van to battery power.

American automakers have always had a fraught relationship with Europe, due mainly to the fact that the cars they specialize in are about one third larger that what European customers are used to. Just imagine a Ford Expedition trying to navigate through traffic around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris for example. Yikes!

After Volkswagen introduced its MEB electric car platform, Ford struck a deal to use that platform as the basis of new EVs for Europe. One was a Euro-spec Explorer (unrelated to the Ford Explorer sold in the US) and the other was a new battery electric version of the iconic Capri that was a sales success in the 70s.

Both were scheduled for production at the company’s factory in Köln — a/k/a Cologne — Germany, which Ford spent $2 billion renovating. Sales have been disappointing, however, and earlier this year, Ford laid off a thousand workers at the factory in Cologne as part of a plan to cut up to 2700 workers by the end of 2027.

Ford Partners With Renault

Now comes news that Ford has inked a deal with Renault to use is Ampere EV platform as the basis for other new models in the European market. Ampere is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault and its platforms underpin both the new Renault Trafic E-Tech commercial vehicle and the latest EV version of the Twingo micro-sedan.

In a joint press release, Ford and Renault said their new partnership will lead to the development of “two distinct Ford-branded electric vehicles. The new models will be based on the Ampere platform, leveraging Renault Group’s strong EV assets and competitiveness, and produced by Renault Group in the North of France, illustrating Ampere’s ElectriCity’s ‘state-of-the-art’ manufacturing capabilities and expertise.

“Designed by Ford, developed with Renault Group, the two cars will feature distinctive driving dynamics, authentic Ford-brand DNA and intuitive experiences. They mark the first step in a comprehensive new product offensive for Ford in Europe. The first of the two vehicles is expected in showrooms in early 2028.” The two companies will also collaborate on the development of light commercial vehicles.

Jim Farley said as part of the announcement, “The strategic partnership with Renault Group marks an important step for Ford and supports our strategy to build a highly efficient and fit-for-the future business in Europe. We will combine Renault Group’s industrial scale and EV assets with Ford’s iconic design and driving dynamics to create vehicles that are fun, capable, and distinctly Ford in spirit.”

That’s some great happy talk, but one has to wonder what Ford is bringing to the party other than some bespoke suspension components. Spring rates and damper settings are not usually topics that quicken the pulse of new car shoppers. With the focus on Ampere’s manufacturing ability, the new arrangement seems to offer little relief for Ford assembly line workers in Germany.

Doing The Farley Shuffle

Farley went to great lengths to say once again how much of a threat to traditional automakers Chinese-made cars are. “We know we’re in a fight for our lives in our industry,” he told journalists in Paris. “There is no better example than here in Europe.” In a comment to a recent CleanTechnica article, my colleague Larry Evans offered his opinion, based on a recent visit to China, that manufacturers in the US and Europe are at least a decade behind their Chinese rivals.

For his part, Farley took the opportunity while in Paris to slam the EU policy that calls for all light-duty cars and trucks sold in EU member nations to be battery powered by 2035. A groundswell of opposition to that policy (from automakers and German politicians) is sweeping the Continent at the moment and Farley was quick to pile on.

At the same time, Ford and its peers in America have been busy this week celebrating the rollback of fuel economy standards by the current administration, a move that means they can now market the bejezus out of the hulking SUVs and pickup trucks that are their most profitable models.

It also means the US vehicle fleet will be spewing lots more carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and fine particulate matter pollution into the skies over America at a time when precisely the opposite is required. Of course, the big disconnect is that the Chinese are not exporting conventional cars; they are bringing compelling electric cars to market and selling them at prices that people can actually afford. They would be happy to do the same in the US, but for the 106 percent tariff that currently applies to all imported vehicles from China.

The Model T Moment

Farley has raved about the Xiaomi sedan he drove for 6 months, calling it far superior to anything his company makes. In August, Ford announced a new “Model T Moment,” which basically involved a radically simplified manufacturing process at its newest factory in Kentucky, which the company hopes will lower the cost of manufacturing electric vehicles enough to make them attractive to more customers.

Still, Ford is content to hide behind tariff walls and promote conventional cars while warning that China is going to eat everyone’s lunch. There seems to be a disconnect between what the company says and what it does. We have not often had praise for General Motors, but it at least has competitive electric car offerings in showrooms today — not 2 to 3 years from now. The Chevy Equinox EV is competitively priced and the second-generation Chevy Bolt will start at under $30,000 when it goes on sale next year. Wherefore art thou, Ford?

We admit that doing business in America today — with a brain-addled president lurching from policy disaster to policy disaster on a daily basis — must be difficult. But the efforts Ford is making to drag itself into the future seem like fairly weak tea, considering how important it is to reduce transportation emissions in a rapidly warming world. Piggybacking on Renault’s EV prowess also seems more like greenwashing than actually seizing the initiative.

Maybe Farley is crazy like a fox and will use the profits from all the gargantuan vehicles Ford plans to sell to fund the EV transition. Maybe, but it’s fair to say those of us gathered around the fire pit fueled by green hydrogen in the garden at CleanTechnica headquarters are feeling a little skeptical.

Jim Farley is still welcome to visit any time, but we may not be quite as hospitable as we once were. Do we trust Farley and his peers to do the right thing? Not as much as we did a year or so ago, that’s for sure.